The Rise of an Adventurer
by RPGRacer
Summary: From an orphan to an adventurer, join Lyglir as he travels with the dovahkiin across Skyrim, delving into dungeons and caves, all while trying to understand visions he has and making sure they don't end as he assumes.
1. chapter 1

"Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating. Do I make myself clear? I don't want to hear another thing about adoptions for any of you either, you hear me? No one needs you. No one wants you. That's why you're here, understood?"

"Yes, Grelod." We all replied.

"Good. Now get to work and stop slouching around!"

This was a daily ritual for us children in Honorhall Orphanage. Get yelled at by Grelod while Constance Michel just watches or listens from the other room where all the food and drink was. There was a table large enough for me, Hroar, Samuel, Francis, and Runa. Besides Constance and Grelod, Runa was the only girl out of the seven of us in the hall. There was another boy, Aventus, but he ran away from here, from Riften even, to his home far to the north in the city called Windhelm to perform something called the Black Sacrament and summon someone called the Night Mother to have her send someone from a group called the Dark Brotherhood, who were supposedly assassins of great caliber, to get rid of Grelod the Kind, who was far from kind, forever, freeing us from her tyranny.

He did that a couple weeks ago, but nothing has happened so we gave up the idea of being free from Grelod and instead hoped she died from drinking too much one day or from old age. She was probably even older than Olaf One-Eye, one of the greatest warriors of Skyrim's long and magnificent history. He was famed then crowned for fighting a dragon named Numinex with the Thu'um and luring it to the cloud district of Whiterun where Dragon's Reach now resides, built in his honor. That would mean that she is centuries old and I can believe it with how grumpy she always is.

We all dispersed to our beds and made them as we always did in the mornings, then went to the table in the next room to receive our meals of a small glass of milk and plate of bread. This was our everyday meal where Grelod got meats and fruits and things such as that. Constance also could get that but she joined us in our bread and milk instead, probably to show us that she did care, but we didn't. We wanted to eat quickly to get away from Grelod as quickly as possible. I always felt bad for the person who was tasked with cleaning up everything as she also made the biggest mess for that person to clean. Grelod always noticed that I felt sorry so she always left the biggest mess for me when it was my day. Luckily I noticed she ate differently then compared to when she eats on days for the other children, and this was not a me day, which meant I would be outside all day which was fine with me because it allowed me to take out any anger or stress out on the wood that I needed to chop up for the fire.

This also allowed me another privilege that the other children didn't get, and that was seeing The Adventurer. I didn't know his name but he would come around every so often finding bounties from the Jarl or trading in armor and weapons to Balimund, the smith. He once got into a fight with a thief who tried to run off with jewels from the Temple of Mara. He took out a bow that was made of a black material that was glowing red through cracks in the black metal and fired a single arrow that ended up exploding in a great ball of light and incinerating the thief in their tracks. All that was left of the thief was his clothes, dagger and whatever else he was carrying with him. The guards paid no attention aside from congratulating and thanking him for doing that.

What surprised me most, however, was that they kept calling him "Dragonborn" or "Dovahkiin" as in someone with the blood of a dragon. The last person with the dragon blood was emperor Martin who saved all of Nirn from the daedric prince Molag Bal, the Prince of Destruction. Legend has it that Martin turned into the dragon Akatosh and turned Molag Bal into a 30-foot tall statue in the center of the Imperial City. This all happened at the end of the 3rd Era, about 201 years ago. The adventurer started appearing last year, late into Last Seed or early into Hearthfire while it was cooling down from the warmer times of Mid-Year and Sun's Height.

Every time he came, he had newer and tougher armor and weapons than the last time he was here. First, he showed up in leather armor that was all torn and rough and was bleeding heavily from a bear attack. His wood and iron shield was dented badly and the wood was rotten and missing in places where others were split and broken. The next time he came, he was in steel armor with a sword whose hilt glowed with some unknown light, as though it was powered by the sun itself. He said he had gotten it as a gift from the Daedric Prince Meridia, who was the prince of life and energy. He said he retrieved something called "Meridia's Beacon" and brought it to her shrine near Solitude.

After returning the beacon, he said he was brought up high into the air somehow and heard a voice from all directions while he was high up in the sky, higher even than High Hrothgar, the mountain that is said to have the first snowfall in all of Skyrim, even in all of Nirn because of how high it was. The top is said to house the Greybeards, masters of the Way of the Voice because their voices were too powerful for others to hear without killing them from the power of their voice. In order to get there, you have to climb the Seven Thousand Steps while fighting high winds and icy paths along with whatever else might be up there, like frost trolls or ice wolves or even mythical frost wraiths.

I thought about all this as I grabbed the ax so I could complete my chore and be able to help all the rest of us warm through the night since we don't have warm fur blankets like Grelod and Constance does. Again, Constance doesn't use the blankets, but she also can't give them to us because Grelod would kick her out onto the streets and she couldn't afford that nor did she want that since she was "our sun on a dark day." She suffered a lot and risked a lot during the day when Grelod turned her back to her for even a second. She would often help the other children with their chores when they needed it or it looked like they needed it. She also tried calming Grelod down during her tantrums because something happened that wasn't even that important.

Deep in thought, I nearly ended up toppling the massive stack of wood on top of myself because I wasn't paying attention. Luckily for me, I recovered quickly and caught the wood before it was too late. I pushed the wood back onto the pile and made sure it was stable before gathering my armful and brought it over to the pile of logs to chop. I knew it wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, but we would need quite the stockpile of wood if a harsh winter was coming like everyone was saying was coming. We all were hoping Grelod didn't find out my true age before one of the other boys were big enough to do my job because if she knew I was over sixteen she would kick me out and the others would freeze because they wouldn't be able to chop wood.

I am the oldest of the orphans by at least three years. I am an adult by our standards at seventeen years of age where the oldest child in the orphanage is fourteen-year-old Runa and she isn't able to swing an ax because it is too heavy for her. Nord tradition also states that women are to do house chores or help in the fields their father owns when they are below the age of sixteen years, but when they pass that age, they are allowed to explore as they want to. Many still stay home or close to it and help around the town and such where in other places, they are adventurers of great caliber or warriors in great armies.

Personally, I don't agree with Nord tradition and think young women should be able to do what they want and follow their passion even at a young age, but my ideas are not widely shared and Nords have been around since the landing of Ysgramor and the five hundred companions, who landed on Skyrim's icy shores and fought hard against the snow elves of legend to claim land for themselves. The elves of Skyrim were banned to underground and have not been heard of or from since. There have been stories of twisted, blind and corrupt elves deep in caves or dwemer ruins that are pure white like the falmer of legend, but many think of it as impossible as they were supposedly lost along with the dwemer when they disappeared without a trace.

Again getting lost in thought, I was startled when a man who was standing near me suddenly yelled "Dragonborn!" to anyone within earshot. It had been awhile since he was last here, a couple of months really. It was unusual for something like this to happen, so it wasn't a wonder when people were getting all kinds of excited to see the legend. Everyone who heard the man started running into each other trying to get to the market to see him and possibly hear of his new adventures. I personally was in no hurry. I just climbed up on top of the roof of the orphanage and jumped from roof to roof until I got to the other side of the market so that I could see him from the time he came to the time he left.

The gates opened only seconds after I had gotten to my waiting place and as they did, I saw him in a light brown chest plate matched with boots, greaves, and tassets of the same color and material. His head was covered by a helmet of a darker piece of the material and had horns that extended from his brows back, like those of a deer, but without the branching out and much thicker. His shield looked like a bone that was taken from the chest of some massive beast and was given a handle. His sword was of a similar material, but looked lighter yet stronger, and had the same dark material as the helmet making up the hilt, guard, and center of the blade.

He walked through the gates and you could feel his power emanating from within, like the deep thrum of a war drum. Everyone was silent in awe of this magnificent being in human form and just watched. He made his way into the tavern and everyone soon tried following but something stopped them. No one entered the tavern, but no one left either. I made my way over to the roof of the shop next to the tavern and jumped onto the second-floor balcony and made my way into the building, unsure of what I would find.

When I walked in, the heat from the massive fire burning down on the first floor in the hearth was amazing, and the smell of fresh, flowing mead was almost too much to take, but it smelled so sweet that I carried on. I walked through the hall with rooms on either side until I came to the stairs and climbed down into a miniature storage room. There were a few barrels with fruit and vegetables in them that made my mouth water, but I knew I was no thief. I moved past the barrels and came into the main hall, full of tables with chairs around them like they were expecting a party to be hosted there. The chairs were empty aside from a few that were taken by people enjoying their mead and food or the mercenary who was always sitting there doing nothing, waiting to be hired.

I could feel the dovahkiin's presence, but I couldn't see him so I started to wander around the room until I came across a man who emanated power but was not wearing the armor that the dovahkiin was wearing when he walked in. He was instead in a tight suit of black and red that had a slight glow to them of different colors. The headdress was deep red but glowed green, the boots were black but glowed gold and the main part of the suit was black as well and glowed red. It was obviously enchanted, but for what purpose, I didn't know. His sword also was not there, but he had a dagger of black in its sheath that looked ancient. I sat across from him, making sure to not disturb him and just watched.

Neither of us said anything for awhile, but then he spoke in a smooth, flowing voice, "You know who I am, don't you?"

I took a second before replying. "Yes I do, you're the dovahkiin, right?"

He looked up and watched me as I was him. "Yes, I am. I have seen you watching me from the rooftops, right?"

"Yes, that is also me."

"How did you get in here then?"

"I hopped from roof to roof until I got to the balcony upstairs. I don't normally do that but I wanted to see why no one came in here like they usually do."

"I guess you didn't hear it then. Have you heard of a thing called the Thu'um? Or Shout?"

"Yes, it is used by the Dragonborn of the past and also by the dragons, right?"

"That is exactly correct." He said as he looked at me with new interest. "How did you know that?"

"I'm really into old legends and I used to hear stories when we first found out that a new dovahkiin, you, had emerged after slaying a dragon in Whiterun."

"Interesting. Was this before or after I first came here?"

"This was before, so people were surprised you had shown up in as bad of a state as you were if you had supposedly slain a dragon and taken its soul."

"I didn't exactly have the upper hand there after fighting a couple of bandits. There was an orc with a battle ax that destroyed my shield and a swordsman who flayed my hamstring while I was trying to block the orc's swing. Then after that is when the bear attacked and sliced open my back as I tried to run away from it."

"Sounds dangerous, but amazing that you were able to do that."

"Others would have said that sounds like fun. It's good to know someone has a head on their shoulders. Where are your parents by the way? Shouldn't they have had an issue with you hopping rooftops and going into taverns?"

"Helgen."

"What about it?"

"They were killed by Alduin that day when you were supposed to be executed."

"So, you're an orphan?"

"One of the only survivors who wasn't drafted into the imperial army directly after."

"You look old enough, so how did you avoid the draft?"

"I lied about my age."

"Well, that makes sense. Why did you do that, though? You would have a warm bed, three hot meals a day and the ability to fight against what you think is wrong all with no major repercussions."

"I think the imperials are cowards, for one. Plus I don't like the idea of fighting in an army where you just grow close to people who will die soon and people always ready to cut your throat to get a promotion."

"That is a good point. Did you choose to come here?"

"Unfortunately yes. They gave me a choice of orphanages and Honorhall sounded like a good one due to the name and the fact it is run by a lady named Grelod the Kind. The complete opposite is true about that place."

"I know. Aventus told me."

"What do you mean he did? Are you an assassin?"

"No, I am the Dovahkiin, what I do otherwise is off the books. This sounded like a good opportunity for gold since I am trying to build a house out in Falkreath. It is hidden in the hills and surrounded by trees with a nice view of one of the many lakes in the area. It is truly beautiful."

"So how did you hear about Aventus?"

"A tavern owner told me about a boy in Windhelm doing something called The Black Sacrament. I decided to check it out, not knowing what the black sacrament was and it sounded bad. When I got there, he told me everything about Grelod, the hall and the other kids within, except for you. He didn't mention you."

"He didn't know me well as I was constantly busy with outside work and such. But back to the subject at hand. Why are you dressed like an assassin?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am here to kill Grelod."

When he said that, my heart started racing. I didn't know if it was fear or the fact we would finally be rid of the evil Grelod. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Originally I was planning on just going straight in, using an invisibility potion, and shooting her with a bow from a dark area in the building. But now that you are here, I was wondering if you would help me find another way in or a better way to do it to where I wouldn't have to worry about being caught."

"I would be more than happy to do that for you. Shall we get started?"

"Not quite yet, I still have to pay for my food and drink as well as your room for the night."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can't have it look like you did it, now could I?"

"You do have a point."

"By the way, how old are you, really?"

"I am seventeen."

"Interesting. Well, give me a second and I will meet you on the upper balcony."

We both got up and I went upstairs while the barkeep was paid and informed of my returning to stay in one of the rooms. He handed the barkeep a large sum of gold from what I could tell, but I kept moving upwards and through the hall again until I came to the door to the balcony when someone behind me started moving towards me. I turned around and saw that a man in a dark robe was approaching with an outstretched hand. He walked as though he had a limp and his hand was bony, like that of a dead person's. When I peered under his hood when he was close enough, his eyes were red like a dying coal and his teeth glowed with a ghostly white light and his fangs were much bigger than any other person's I had seen.

He started to move faster as he saw that I had seen what he is and I quickly opened the door and rushed out, closing it behind me and pushing against it to try and keep this vampire from getting through. We fought back and forth for a few minutes when suddenly, there was a flash outlining the door and I felt nothing pushing back on me. I slowly opened the door just enough to peer through and saw the Dovahkiin standing a few feet away from the door with a bow that looked of pure gold and glowing with a bright light and a quiver of the same material and glowing just as brilliantly on his back. I looked down and saw the vampire was now just a pile of ash, a robe and a single golden arrow with pure white fletching.

"Good thing I got here when I did. That vampire looked like he was in his final state."

"Yeah..good thing.." My heart was still racing with fear but was slowing down gradually. "Shall we get moving then, Dovahkiin?"

"Yes, so we shall. Lead the way."

I began jumping again from building roof to building roof until we reached the roof of Honorhall. I dropped down in the darkest spot of the area surrounding the building, where there was a single window overlooking Grelod's room. All that was in it was her bed, an end table with a candle and book on it, and a bear hide on the floor.

"This is Grelod's room. She will most likely be in here soon as it is getting late and she sleeps a lot. If you are going to lay a trap for her, here is the perfect place."

"Thank you for your assistance. Return to the tavern and let the keep know that you were sent to him by me and he will give you the key to your room and tell you which one it is. I have the room next to you and I will tell you in the morning how it went, alright?"

"Alright. Good luck to you, Dovahkiin!"

With that, I made my way back to the tavern, deciding to not use the rooftops or the balcony as there now was no one left around the tavern at this hour and I didn't want the keep to be suspicious of me if I just suddenly appeared again from the second floor.

I entered the tavern and walked up to the bar. The building was more empty than it was when I had left it, but that was to be expected since it was such a late hour. I told the keep I was sent by Dovahkiin and he gave me a gold key and told me my room was the third to the right. I asked him repeatedly what side the room was that he was going to use, but apparently, the keep wasn't allowed to tell others what another person's room was. So I decided to just head upstairs to my room and get ready for bed.

I hadn't been lying down for very long when I heard a slight knock on the door. Figuring it was the Dovahkiin back from his "nightly duties" I opened the door. Much to my dismay, the person was not, but instead was a woman dressed similarly to the Dovahkiin, but with all of her clothes black and a red mask covering her entire face but her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She didn't do anything but look at me and before I knew it, I was asleep.


	2. chapter 2

I awoke some time later in a shack that seemed in disrepair and had a bad smell about it. I was able to look around freely, but I could not move freely. I could move my body, but I couldn't go anywhere for some reason. I soon came to the realization I was under a paralysis spell. It allowed the person the spell was cast on to move their head and breathe just fine, but they were not able to go anywhere or speak. I looked around trying to see if I could find the woman who had brought me here, but I couldn't see anyone. I did, however, see that there blood stains on the other side of the shack along with three very blurry shapes that were moving slightly, but not by much that looked to be about waist high but aside from that I couldn't tell what they were.

After what had felt like hours, I heard footsteps in some mud outside the door to the shack, which was midway between me and the moving blurs on the other side. They sounded heavy, like someone in armor and they weren't happy about something. There was silence for a moment before a loud bang of someone hitting the door with I could only guess was a battleaxe or warhammer, trying to break it down. There was another loud bang and you could see the door start to crack down the center. Another and the door was breaking the hinges. There was a final blow and the door flew about a foot before crashing onto the ground and splitting in half. It was an impressive feat as the door looked to be about half my hand in thickness and reinforced with steel on the outside edge and through the middle.

I looked to my right where the door used to be and saw someone who I could only identify as the Dovahkiin as no one else I knew of had that brown armor and weapons, nor the strength to do something as he just did. I could tell that he was mad because the power emanating from him was a much darker feel than the lighter feeling when he entered Riften. He stomped in and looked around but apparently couldn't see anything. I tried moving again, but to no avail. He kept looking around the room, nearly hitting me and the blurs a few times with his feet or shield he had donned after entering the room and putting away his battleaxe in favor of his sword.

I suddenly heard a sly, smooth, and feminine from up to my left say "So you came after all? I wasn't expecting you to trek all the way here just to save some boy. He must have some meaning to you."

"Yeah? What about it? I came here because someone kidnapped someone and now I found the kidnapper, but where is the boy?"

"He is here, but before you get him, you need to do something for me, or you won't see him again. There are three people over there," She motioned to the blurs and they became three different people with black bags over their heads. "One of the people in this room have a contract on their head to be killed. It is up to you to figure out which one, and you can't leave here until someone dies. It is up to you to choose who dies."

"You sick freak. Who are you?!"

"Me? Well, I suppose that is something for you to find out when you kill the contract, now isn't it?"

"I am left with no choice I suppose," the Dovahkiin said as he unsheathed his bow he had on his back. He drew a single steel arrow and aimed at one of the people now kneeling on the floor in front of him. Time seemed to slow down, nearly to a stop when suddenly, he turned around and shot the woman square in the head, killing her instantly. She fell off of her perch on a cupboard and onto the floor, face down. As she hit the floor, I felt myself be able to move again and immediately scrambled away from the now dead woman. I watched in some form of shock as the Dovahkiin checked to make sure she was dead. When he confirmed she was, he checked to see what was on her. He seemed to only find her clothes and a strange-looking dagger.

"This must've been how she paralyzed you. This dagger is called The Blade of Woe. A legendary and ancient blade said to have been forged by Sithis himself."

"As much as I know of history and such, who was Sithis?"

"Who is Sithis is a correct statement. Sithis is the dark lord of the Dark Brotherhood."

"You mean the assassins who are said to have once been legendary killers, both ruthless, and cunning but humble and secluded?"

"The very ones. She must have been the leader of the last of the known Brotherhood sanctuary. I haven't been hunting them and also once thought of joining them for the opportunity of gold in large sums all for hunting someone down and killing them, but now I see that this part of the Brotherhood is nothing more than a band of cutthroats instead of assassins. The Brotherhood is being hunted for quite a large sum of gold by some Imperial branch called the Penitus Oculatus. Trust me, I don't like the idea of working for them either but they also don't enroll you like a soldier."

"Even so, do you feel alright working for them?"

"They would hire you like a mercenary to hunt down the Brotherhood and allow for them to eliminate the rest of them permanently."

"That sounds a lot better than being drafted. Do you know where to find them? The Penitus Oculatus that is?"

"They're in Dragon Bridge, just up the valley from here. We are near Morthal, or the swamps near it anyway."

"Wait, so we went from Riften to near Morthal? How long have I been away?"

"I've been trying to find you for a couple days. When I returned from my mission, I went to your room to tell you how it went and how the kids reacted but found a letter with an approximate location and a black handprint with the words 'We know' in the same black ink underneath it. Creepiest thing I had seen and the owner was no help because he hadn't seen anyone enter or leave except you. I traveled to the location and was able to see this shack in the distance and thought that is what I was supposed to see and I started my trek here."

"Wow...I wonder if she woke me up because she knew you were near or whatever she did wore off right then and was a coincidence."

"I don't suppose you want to try to ask her?"

"As interesting as necromancy sounds, I'd rather not."

"Agreed. Now, why don't we head home?"

"Back to Riften?"

"Nope. You are coming with me to Falkreath. After Constance found Grelod dead, she took over the orphanage and allowed me to adopt you."

"Only me? Why not one of the other children?"

"I only have space at my house for two other people. I chose you and I had already promised a girl in Whiterun that I would adopt her when I was able to."

"Oh, that is understandable then. It makes sense Constance let me go with you, after all, her and the other kids all knew my age, only Grelod didn't and for good reason."

"I suppose so. Let's untie these people then set off, shall we? I have a wagon waiting at a nearby farm to take us all where we need to go."

I smiled and we both began untying the prisoners and getting them back on their feet. It turns out one of them was not too happy about being untied by the Dovahkiin for some reason and they stormed out of the shack and out into the swamp, heading in the other way from the farm apparently. The other two were grateful for him rescuing them and such. After they were untied, they followed us through the swamp as we made our way toward the farm that was just off of the swamp from where the shack was.

We headed to the left of the shack and it wasn't long before we reached the farm. It didn't look like much of a farm, though, but more of a manor of someone of high standing. No one seemed to know who it belonged to and no one asked. Nobody needed to as a large Nord man came out dressed in green and brown clothes that looked of fine silk and addressed the Dovahkiin. His voice was rough and deep as he spoke.

"My thane, you have returned! Judging from your company I assume that you were successful?"

"Indeed I was, Valdimar. I want you to meet someone."

"Would this someone finally be of some help to me around the grounds?"

"I'm afraid not as he will be coming with me to Lakeview Manor in Falkreath."

"As you wish, my Thane."

"Is the wagon still ready?"

"It is. The horses are ready and the driver waiting."

"Has he been paid yet?"

"He has. I have paid him the full amount of gold, just as you asked."

"Thank you. Now," Turning back to me and the others he said, "is anyone hungry?"

No one said anything or raised a hand. I didn't notice it, but I wasn't hungry even though I hadn't eaten for the time I had been in there. I suppose it is the same case with the others as they seemed to be having the same reaction I was to the new discovery.

"Nope, we seem to be alright. That assassin must've done something to keep us from going hungry."

"Interesting. Alright well, let's get on the road then. I feel it will be a long trip."

It was indeed. Luckily, it took less time for us to get to our destination than it took for him to find out where the assassin had taken us. Nobody needed dropped off on this side of Skyrim anyway and apparently the Dovahkiin had paid the driver more than enough to go to wherever the people on it needed and then return to his home in Morthal afterward.

We were the first to be dropped off but not at a place I thought we would be. The driver dropped us off outside of the gates to Falkreath, apparently not knowing where Lakeview manor was. The dovahkiin got a couple of horses from the stables just outside the walls and handed me the reins to one of them.

"I'm sure you don't know how to ride, but now is as good a time as any if you want to go with me places."

We traveled slowly while I was getting used to the feeling and while he taught me how to ride. After a bit, as I am a very fast learner, I was soon trying to leave him in the dust while traveling along the road in the direction we were already heading. Unfortunately, my horse wasn't as endurant as his and he ended up catching up. It's a good thing he did otherwise I would have completely missed the path leading to the house. We dismounted and the horses made their way back the way we came, seemingly trained to do so after being ridden by people who didn't own them.

The path was obscure to those who didn't know it was there. It was not much more than a game trail that had the brush cleared away from it with just enough room for a cart to pass through. There wasn't much to do while we walked, and it wasn't far to walk, according to the Dovahkiin, so we made small talk.

"So now that you have adopted me, what do you want me to call you?"

"What? Does 'dad' not sound good enough?" He chuckled through the last bit of that sentence. "How about you just call me by name and I will call you by your name?"

"That sounds fine and all, but what is your name? You never told me and everyone just calls you 'dragonborn' or 'dovahkiin'."

"Fair point, and honestly it is kinda helpful as only the people closest to me, like the greybeards, the companions, and some others know my name and they call me it and allow me to find those I usually am looking for at the moment. My name is Vyrick. I don't believe I have yours either. Constance didn't tell me what it was she just seemed to know who I was talking about."

"My name is Lyglir. I don't remember my parents oddly enough so I can't tell why I would have received that name or what it could mean."

"You sound like me. I never knew why I have the name I do because my mother died when I was young and my father didn't know why I got the name because he was fighting in the war with the Thalmor when I was born and was slew by them when I was 14."

"Is that why you dislike the Imperials?"

"No, I just don't like people who back down from a challenge just to protect their ego or crown in this matter. We are nearly there and I'm sure Rayya will be able to hear us."

"Rayya?"

"My other housecarl but from the Jarl of Falkreath instead of Morthal."

"Ah, but why would she be able to hear us?"

"Stories say that her hearing is much more sensitive than that of a bat because she grew up in the wild when her parents were killed during a bandit raid some time ago. She barely escaped alive because she was outside of the house when they set it on fire after raiding it and killing her parents within. She is said to have killed bears with her hands and fought wolves on their own terms."

"Although, most just say that she is stealthy and is constantly watching the house as she is told to do by her Thane," said a voice from somewhere above us. It was certainly feminine and was soothing as well as flowing and had a rich accent that was foreign, but still easy to understand. I could tell she was most likely a Redguard of royal descent even before I saw her. She lept down from the tree and landed gracefully on her feet, almost like a cat. Her skin was a light brown, evidence she indeed was a Redguard, and her hair was full and flowing down to the middle of her back. She looked like she was more used to armor but was also wearing the clothes she was out of choice. She was in an autumn red dress with deeper red shoes both laced with intricate gold patterns. The dress easily fit her as it complimented her skin beautifully.

"Lyglir, this is Rayya. Rayya, this is our new son, Lyglir."

"Our? Are you two married?"

"You make it sound like some amazing feat, Lyglir. Then again, it isn't every day you see a Nord and Redguard marriage, so I can't exactly fault you for that," Rayya responded.

"Well, you certainly don't see it in Riften. Plus I never saw either of you at the Temple of Mara so I wouldn't have known."

"I have an explanation for that. I didn't want anyone to know it was me getting married so I dressed up in a much different way than I would normally be seen in so I could allow for the temple to not be flooded with random people and it would just be friends and Rayya's family, had they chosen to come to Skyrim. No one knew it was me except Rayya, the people attending that we invited and the priests and priestesses."

"That explains why there was no giant ruckus for so long I suppose. You must've come sometime during that long lull when you didn't show up for so long."

"Possibly. Now then, I think it's time that you went and met your sister. Were you able to find Lucia by the way, Rayya?"

"I was indeed. She was near that giant tree on the way up to Dragonsreach."

"The Gildergreen? I actually need to talk to the priestess of Kynareth that is always sitting around it. Hulda from the Bannered Mare told me that they were trying to revive it not too long ago and were looking for someone to help them with it."

"Well, maybe you could take Lyglir with you. After all, didn't he help you with the Grelod issue?"

"That he did. He seems pretty resourceful, as well." He turned to me, "How does that sound? Want to go to Whiterun with me?"

I'm sure my eyes lit up with excitement when he said that. The idea of going with Vyrick, the Dovahkiin and my father on an adventure of any sort sounded like a lot of fun. I nodded my head vigorously yes to his question and wrapped his arm around my shoulder and Rayya's and we made our way up the rest of the path to the house.


	3. chapter 3

"Well, that was quicker than expected. Most people your age and experience level take weeks if not months to learn how to parry."

"I have had to be a fast learner in the past, I figured this would be no different than that."

I have been living with Vyrick, Rayya, and Lucia, my sister of thirteen, for about a week now. He said we would go on an adventure to Whiterun to help with this tree called the Gildergreen at about the same time that I had gotten here with him. He had brought me inside with his wife, Rayya and we sat and ate and they got to know me and Lucia, my sister and their daughter who also had gotten there that day after Rayya had picked her up from Whiterun.

After we ate we all went to bed as it had been a long day and sometime during the night, a courier came with a letter from the Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruuf the Greater, and requested the Dragonborn's presence. This was usually what Vyrick was called since only those close to him knew his true name for whatever reason. He has been gone for some time, but then it takes a couple days to reach Whiterun and his stay was probably lengthened by something and he was going to be on his way home soon.

While he was gone, he decided to hire someone to teach me how to fight and got the best he knew besides him. He had gotten one of his shield-brothers from Jorrvaskr to teach me how to fight. I found it interesting they were all considered shield-brothers when the person I was training with was more of a shield-sister. Then again, the name came from the original companions who were mostly men so I understood it well.

"You could be a bit faster though when finishing your parry and returning to your fighting stance. Even just a split second and you could be killed."

Her name is Aela the Huntress. She specializes in bows but is still amazing with a sword, plus she is used to working with people who are new to the art of fighting. She was going to teach me bow skills but that became a bad idea when there were no targets to set up and a bear didn't like it when we shot his favorite beehive. He did seem to like how much honey flowed out, though, so he left us alone until the bees came after him. Then he ran towards us and got us involved in the bees. We weren't stung luckily, but the bear didn't fare as well. It was almost comical the way he chased us with a nose as big as his paw blocking his vision, making him trip over things.

She kept going at me with a ferocity only to be expected from one of the higher-ups of the Companions. She had no pattern as I had noticed before as she tries to exactly counter whatever I do, which was hard because if I was in the middle of one move of my own, I would change it to make sure she didn't touch me or I would exploit an opening in her defence and land a hit on her, which was more common than she would like to admit.

"I think we should end it there, for now. You obviously have nothing more to learn from me at the moment, otherwise, you will overexert yourself in the process."

"If you way so, Aela."

"Don't sound all cocky. These are only training blades. If I had my real sword, you wouldn't stand a chance."

"You make it sound like it would be a challenge."

"Well, it would be a lot easier for me to harm you as you would still only have a training blade due to you not having a sword forged for yourself yet. I thought you were supposed to learn smithing from someone anyway."

"I was supposed to, yes. However, we received a letter recently telling us why the smith hadn't shown up yet."

"Well, what was his reasoning?"

"His campsite was crushed under a mammoth herd."

"A mammoth herd? As in more than three?"

"Supposedly. No one was left alive and the only thing there was mammoth prints all over everything so it can only be assumed as much."

"Well, it could be a possibility I suppose. Not a very likely one, but one nevertheless. This is our last training day, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I do. It was an amazing experience to be able to learn and hopefully, it will keep me alive when I travel with Vyrick when he returns."

"I'm sure it will but never stop practicing. Maybe one day you can teach me or even him a thing or two. I am going to pack up my things and load them onto the wagon."

"I think I will head down to the clearing and meditate. The air is cool and the area should prove comfortable as the sun will be shining on the water within and keeping the place a nice temperature."

"I will let Rayya know where you are then."

"Thank you Aela. I will see you soon if you haven't left before then. Fare thee well, fair Companion and shield-brother."

"Fair thee well to you as well, Lyglir."

I placed my sword upon the rack that was set aside for the different training weapons Aela and I were to use. There was the swords, a couple maces, a battle axe and war axe. None of them were intended to use as actual weapons, but they certainly would hurt if you needed to use them as such. I turned towards the back of the house and walked around the garden to the right as well as the branch of the house that I knew of as the armory and down the hill from the house, heading into the forest. It took a bit, but I knew the trek from the house to the clearing too well.

The clearing was nothing more than a pond where the sun shone on all day from mid morning to mid dusk and kept it a beautiful shade of red during either time while the rest of the day it was a clear blue that would show the fish within and polished stones at the bottom. There was a path of three larger stones to the center of the pond where there was a single tree of good size. The branches at the bottom were still two of me high and were as thick around as my torso. One of these branches had been hollowed out naturally somehow and was the perfect place to lay as it was covered in a soft moss that was never soggy.

I climbed the tree to this very branch and lay in the normal spot and closed my eyes. I never slept here, but the quietness was always pleasant enough that you would think that it wouldn't be hard to. I always had dreams of sorts in this place, though, which was interesting as nothing seemed to be magical about this place. The dreams were always memories of different things that were major decisions I had made in my past, such as declining to join the imperials and helping Vyrick with Grelod.

Today was different, though, as normally it took a while before I started to see anything, but it was instant today. Right as I closed my eyes, I saw a familiar scene but was not familiar as well. I was inside of a burning house, but it was not my original parent's house, but nor was it Vyrick's. I was standing there alongside Vyrick and we were both dressed in some strange armor that I had not seen before. It was white like snow and had an unfamiliar look as it wasn't metal or any kind of hide I knew of. The padding underneath was the same way, but black. I was holding a sword also of some black material and Vyrick was dressed the same but had an axe of the material. Neither of us had our helmets on, and I couldn't see where they were.

I couldn't tell why the building we were in was on fire either, though. It was burning as though something had blown up like a flame atronach but the only ones around were summoned and supposedly they didn't explode when they were killed. The building wasn't collapsing either, like it was stuck where it was, constantly burning somehow and never falling or going out. It seemed as though there wasn't anything to fear but we were both standing back to back and ready to fight. We were standing there for what felt like forever when suddenly an arrow embedded itself in my left leg and I woke from the dream.

"Having another of your illusions, Lyglir? What was it this time? Sparring session with Aela?"

The voice was below me but was muffled signaling he was behind the tree. "No, Vyrick. This involved both of us and it was something I know I haven't seen yet."

I told him everything about his new vision or whatever it was and he watched me with interest, but not really knowing what I could have seen as he hadn't seen weapons or armor of that kind ever before. The place wasn't familiar either apparently, as he knew of no building that could possibly be found burning forever without falling down at some point or anything along those lines.

"Maybe someone at the college of Winterhold would be able to interpret this for you. I can't guarantee anything though as there is still many forms of magic that no one knows about or can explain. I will have Rayya send a letter to the college and have someone who might know of this kinda thing come and investigate and hopefully we will be back after they have some information on this place."

"If you want to, that would be fine, but what do you mean 'we will get back'? Are we going somewhere?"

"Well, yes. We still have to go to Whiterun. After I went there, I had to talk to some people for Balgruuf then I was able to talk to the priestess. Her name is Danica Pure-Spring, from the temple of Kynareth. She told me that I needed to get some sap from the mother tree called the Eldergleam in a cave in Eastmarch. However to get the sap we need a special dagger called Nettlebane from a place called Orphan Rock. Unfortunately for you, there won't be any fighting to be done as I cleared out the place long before I met you because I had to eliminate a hagraven for Igmund, the Jarl of Markarth."

"Well, you certainly have been kept busy. Will we be leaving soon?"

"I'm afraid not. Rayya wants me to rest for a couple days before going anywhere, as usual. How went your training by the way?"

"Well, apparently I learn pretty quickly according to Aela. After all, I have beaten her in a couple fights now."

"What about smithing? I haven't seen any new weapons or armor around."

"He...didn't arrive."

"What do you mean he didn't arrive?"

"We received a letter not too long ago, yesterday I feel like it was, that his camp had been found trampled by a herd of mammoths."

"Oh really? I've never heard of a herd of mammoths, and I certainly haven't ever seen one in all of my travels. This is interesting news indeed."

"I suppose it does. Wait, why do we need to go to Whiterun if you already spoke with the priestess?"

"We need to get you armor and weapons, don't we? You never know what we might encounter on our travels."

"Aren't you known all around, like, everywhere though? Wouldn't people be afraid of attacking you and your armor chase off any animals or other things that would have half the mind to attack you?"

"Unfortunately that isn't the case. Yes, I am widely known, but bandits and others of their sort don't care because they all are convinced that in numbers they can slay me. Animals are not as afraid of the dragons as we would believe. They just look at you as something that is trespassing or doesn't belong there and they try to get rid of you."

"Oh, well that is comforting to know. At least my lessons are explained a bit now."

"Returning to that topic, I hear you had some issues with bees and bears. Now how did you manage that?"

"We may have set up some targets that looked similar to a beehive that ended up being a casualty of war?"

"Let me guess, you shot the beehive and the bear didn't appreciate it."

"Well, he enjoyed the honey that was flowing out until the bees went after him thinking it was him who destroyed the hive. Then he went after us."

"Interesting. What happened to the bear?"

"Aside from having a very large and red nose? I have no idea. It didn't chase us for long thanks to Aela's knowledge of their patterns and how to counter them"

"I was hoping for a story on how one of you two got me a new bear pelt rug. I guess I will just have to keep hoping."

"I suppose. Now, back to the house?"

"Please. I've been getting hungrier the whole time I have been sitting here talking to you."

With that, we walked up to the house while he told me more about what happened while he was in Whiterun. It wasn't exactly going around and dealing with troublemakers around the hold, but it was still interesting to hear about what was going on around Skyrim. As we neared the house, we could smell the sweet smell of mead and roast mammoth. Vyrick had slain one before he came to Riften and they were still trying to eat it because of how much meat it had. He had taken one of the tusks and made hooks out of it for fishing while he was in Whiterun, one of them was given to a woman who had asked him to get her one so she could start her career as a trader, another was sold to a jeweler to make into something and the final one was being used to carve into when I got bored.

When we got back to the house, we were greeted by a man in a robe of gray with a sash over his shoulders in blue accented by silver thread. He was tall in stature and seemed as though he was ancient or at least full of knowledge from centuries past. When he turned around, he had a beard nearly as long as he was tall. His eyes showed what I had felt earlier of being full of knowledge. They were a sparkling blue color in the iris and his eye sockets showed his age along with the rest of his visible face. When he took the hood from his head, long gray hair flowed out from underneath, about half the length of his beard. He smiled at Vyrick as though he was just seeing an old friend and the way Vyrick greeted him confirmed such an assumption.

"Greetings Arngeir! What brings you down from High Hrothgar?"

"Our Grandmaster requests your presence, and I figured I wanted to walk around Skyrim and see what it is like now. Falkreath seems to be more prosperous and green than I remember. Probably from all the ash that was left after the battle when I was a child."

"What battle was there? I don't remember anyone saying anything about one," I said.

"The battle was quick, brutal, and nameless. It was between Falkreath and a large bandit tribe that was risen by the Jarl before he turned on his people. The battle started when the townsfolk awoke to the forest around them being nothing but a wall of flame. It was as if a dragon had been burning the forest away slowly as it made its way towards the town. Luckily, the buildings and such were all stone, which left little to be burnt or replaced afterward. The Jarl underestimated some people and as the fires raged on, the bandits were being slain without anyone knowing what was going on. Rumor has it that the Dark Brotherhood felt their sanctuary was being threatened and took action."

"Their sanctuary?" Vyrick sounded quite interested as he asked.

"Before they were hunted to near extinction, their sanctuary was below the road, protected by a black door. Before the fire as well, there was a pond that never dried. After the fire, that same pond turned black like oil and consumed anyone who tried to touch it. It was like tar but wasn't hot. Everyone was warned to stay away from that area since and now no one knows where it is."

"Interesting. Back to the subject at hand, though, you said the Grandmaster needs me?"

"Indeed, he sounded like it was urgent as well, so I would make haste to get there."

"Do you think I would be able to take Lyglir here with me? There is something incredible that he is able to do and maybe the Grandmaster might be able to help us understand it."

"Only if he is able to keep the secret of what he is. Keep in mind, you have slain many dragons, and would be expected to slay any others in your path if anyone knew of their existence in different areas."

"I am aware, Arngeir. I don't doubt he will have any issues keeping it to himself. Now, as for you Lyglir," he turned to me, "this means other things are going to have to wait and you will have to climb the seven thousand steps. Are you ready?"

"I am indeed, Vyrick. As long as I don't have to do it in armor yet, I should be fine."

"Good. Now, we will take a wagon as I still have not located a second horse for you to ride and I'm sure Arngeir here would like to have some form of transport that won't break him in the process."

"Thank you, Vyrick, but I was hoping I could stay here. I hear it is really pretty this time of year and would like to explore some."

"That's fine with me, all I would have to do is tell my wife. Just one second and she will be out here to greet you and show you around. Now just remember, what's mine is yours."

"Splendid."


	4. chapter 4

The wagon ride wasn't as luxurious as it could have been, but it was time well spent nonetheless. We went straight from the manor to Ivarstead where the bottom of the steps was. The town wasn't very large as it only had a few buildings, a mill, a small farm and across the river was a small, burnt down and ruined house. There was a single main path down through the center of the town with a bridge that we entered on at the southern end going down hill towards the northeast. In the middle of the road between the start bridge and the end bridge going toward the steps, there was a smaller road that looked closer to a path leading up to something in the trees. It looked like a short hill that had been hollowed out for some purpose.

We continued on through the town until we got to the bridge that went directly to the right and over the river to the start of the steps. The road continued on in a northeast direction away from the town and the bridge, but we stopped at the bridge and got off and the driver returned the way we came back to Lakeview manor. The trip had taken us a couple days but would have taken longer if not for shifts taken driving the wagon and not stopping except for food and relieving ourselves. We traveled like this because of the urgency Arngeir spoke of, otherwise, we would have stopped along the way to rest and such in the various inns we passed.

The townsfolk weren't very high spirited for being independent and in a very pretty area. All you could see around the town were trees of greens and oranges and yellows with an open blue sky and a river with small waterfalls leading to a slightly larger one below the bridge to the steps. They were mostly protected from elements by the mountain and the foothills around it that wrapped around the town from one side leaving the rest open to the forest and plains. They said that there was a rockslide that ended up crushing the house across the river, leaving Narfi, the town beggar, who was quite annoying, to become even more so after the Greybeards called on Vyrick, before he was known as the Dragonborn, which shook the mountain with the power of their voices and caused the rocks to fall onto Narfi's house.

The bridge had a couple on it, the man had a large sack next to him and the woman looked worried about something. Vyrick and I decided to go over and investigate.

"You know how I feel about you going up there again! You were nearly killed last time!" The woman's voice was shrill as she yelled at her seeming other half. She was a strong looking woman with lighter complexion telling of possibly imperial descent.

"If I don't bring this food up to them, they might die and then what would we do? The Greybeards don't have a food source aside from me and whoever else might bring food up there for them. I will help them, even if it does end up getting me killed." The man was definitely a nord just judging from his broadness and stubborn set of mind. His voice was deep and had a hint of commanding nature to it like he was reluctant to order anyone around but was also not afraid to if needed.

"Excuse me, are you talking about bringing this sack up the Greybeards?" Vyrick asked.

"Well yes, but my wife is giving me a hard time about it."

"Only because he nearly died last time!"

"Well, we are going up there directly to their sanctuary as I have been asked to speak with them. I would be willing to carry the sack up and give it to them if it pleases the both of you," I said.

"Please do. I have a feeling you two are more than able to defend yourselves better than my husband here can."

"I won't argue with that. I figured I would have to do it since no one here would ever go up there because of the different dangers as well as just not willing to travel that far by foot with a sack on their back."

"I'm sure we will be able to get up there safely with the sack of food. You two take care now," Vyrick said, picking up the sack and handing it to me.

"Indeed. We will inform you of the delivery when we return back down here. I personally will make sure of it."

"Thank you both so much. Now dear," the woman turned to her husband, "We have things to do at the house remember? I hope you haven't forgotten about our company tonight."

"Oh right, back to the house then! Good luck to the both of you and may Talos guide you."

We waved goodbye to the strange couple as I carried the sack on my back with straps of leather we had used to keep sacks of our own food on the wagon. It was quite a heavy load, but I figured it wasn't anything I couldn't do. I knew it was going to be a long walk up the mountain, but I was ready. I had training in swordsmanship and also had the Dragonborn next to me if I needed assistance.

We began climbing and as we were, I would see occasional altar looking things with bowls below a stone tablet that usually had different things like flowers or gold or, in a couple cases, weapons or armor. There would be some people meditating at these stones as well and it confused me, so I asked Vyrick about it.

"What are those stones and why are people leaving offerings and meditating at them?"

"Those are the Ten Wayshrines. They tell the story of how men got the ability to use the Thu'um."

"I suppose that makes sense since this is the path to the Greybeards who use the thu'um."

"I hadn't thought of that. That is a good point, though. What do you know of the Greybeards?"

"I know their voices are too powerful to be heard by any normal man without them dying in the process. They also follow the teachings of The Way of The Voice that was created or originated from Jurgen Windcaller? I think he renamed himself Jurgen the Calm after meditating for seven years after the Tongues at Red Mountain had been silenced, but the name never stuck and he continued to be called Jurgen Windcaller after his death."

"Interesting, not many know that. Especially those who have never read the wayshrines. What else do you know about Jurgen?"

"He helped fight off the Dwemer and the Chimer-"

"Chimer? What are they?"

"They are the ancestors of the dunmer. They were known for worshipping Daedra just as the dark elves do now. Now, back to Jurgen. He helped fight at the Battle of Red Mountain and after his army's defeat during the battle, he went and meditated behind the reason, as I told you already. This is when he created The Way of The Voice and named himself Jurgen the Calm."

"What about the seventeen tongues? Do you know about them?"

"You ask this as though it should be common knowledge. Do YOU know about the Seventeen Tongues? Also known as the Seventeen Disputants?"

"Why do you think I have been asking you these questions? I might have been to Sovngarde where I could talk to Jurgen, but none of the Tongues were there, Nord or not, they had no place there."

"Well, what do you want to know about them then?"

"As much as you can tell me. They are never spoken about in stories that I have found, so I was hoping you would know since you seem to be overflowing with knowledge that I would suspect to be forbidden since there are no records of what you know."

"Alright, I will start with what they wanted to do with Jurgen. They all wanted to get rid of him because of some reason and they all thought that because of how Jurgen had chosen silence overusing his voice that he would be easy to get revenge over. This obviously was not the case as they all fell at his feet as he drank in their combined voices and walked amongst them unscathed by their voices."

"So Jurgen was quite powerful indeed. Do you know what they were and what deeds were done to give them their names?"

"Yes. There was Uzgloth Blood-Eye, Hrod the hungry, Sigrun Ever-Glorious, Knorir the Snow-Devil, Valtr, son of Valtr, Maeve the Owl-Sister, Hjall the Younger, Cleverman of Whiterun, Sysvol the Saga-Skin, Joldiir Fear-Father, Burna the Doom-Maiden, Sturm the Ghost-Eater, Rigga the Sky-Walker, Havoth Storm-Glaive, Onvarro of Glenumbra, third born son of a Direnni Prince, Yarro the Kothringi, Unferth the Grim, and Jaan Wyrm-Daughter."

"Well that tells me their names, but how did they get them?"

"That part is vague, even in my knowledge of the subject. Uzgloth had shouted apart five times five strongholds in defense of his own, Hrod had eaten a prince of the Ayelids alive, Sigrun wore the skin of a white sabrecat around her shoulders and shouted the Velothi reavers into dust, Knorir wore a necklace of Falmer ears and used his voice to turn their heroes into meltwater, Valtr was a wandering hireblade and was the sole victor of the battle of Sjornhall, Maeve was found wild in Falkreath's forests and knew the language of the Spriggans, Hjall went into battle with a weapon of mammoth ivory and baleful light, Sysvol was raised by Mora's kin and was covered in the language of Mora as well, Joldiir's voice gave survivors of its attack nightmares, Burna was the greatest of Yngvild's daughters, Sturm had defeated Jal Borri's shade alongside the spirit of a great bear, Rigga went mad while shouting and slew the beast of the Jeralls with her bare hands, Havoth shouted nine trolls into submission, Onvarro was able to turn his swords to flame with his voice, Yarro bore the blood of Black Marsh and wore a bronzed skull of his brother in his beard, Unferth had fought alongside Jurgen in Vvardenfell and Jaan was freed from slavery by a dragon with iron scales and learned the voice from him."

"Impressive. They certainly would be true legends if not for how they faded from memory and how there are no stories about them aside from what you have just said."

"That might be so but trying to remember all that makes my head hurt. Is that High Hrothgar?"

As I looked ahead, I saw a large stone building that looked like a small fortress seem to rise out of the mountain like it wasn't built but was just there, like the mountain wanted it to be there and allowed for it to just stay like that. There weren't many windows on it, and the ones that were there were lit up with candles on the inside and had ice covering the outside. The walk up was sheltered a couple meters from the massive two pairs of doors. There was a split between them that led down to a chest where I supposed was where supplies were put. Directly above the chest was the final wayshrine.

"It looks like you talking helped the steps pass by quite quickly, huh? Well, I suppose I should go on ahead and inform the other Greybeards of your coming so they don't accidentally kill you with their greeting. They don't have the same control that Arngeir does."

I was going to ask why that was but Vyrick was already on his way up to the door before I could even say his name. I continued up to the door on my own but luckily it wasn't as far as it looked since the new small burst of energy I had at finally reaching the legendary High Hrothgar. I also forgot to tell something to Vyrick about what I knew about the Greybeards. I knew that their headmaster was a dragon named Paarthurnax. He betrayed his brother, Alduin and helped man defeat his brother and also helped them with the Way of the Voice. I never knew what happened to him, but that he was still alive and was hiding somewhere. I now think I know where this place is, and that is on top of the mountain, at the true Throat of the World.

I placed the sack of supplies next to the door and pushed the massive door open. It swung open easily and quietly. The hinges seemed to have been well oiled to have achieved such little force needed to open it. The inside was warm and had a brazier in front of me lighting the area around it. To my left was a wall that I guessed was between me and the other door. In front of me behind the brazier was a walkway before it came to a statue looking thing. It was like a large triangle that had been flattened at the top just for the brazier that was on it. It looked to be about twice as tall I was and had etchings on it. On the other side of the wall was an area with etchings in the ground inside a square with one corner touching the wall on my side of the opening and one on the other side touching a carved wall. The area where the square was lit by two large braziers, one on each corner of the wall also by the light coming through a large window in the ceiling.

As I was admiring the carvings on the wall, Vyrick had started to sneak in, I'm guessing in an attempt to scare me. He was near silent, which was interesting as last I knew he only had his armor and some clothes underneath on.

Maybe he took off his armor just so that he didn't have the extra weight and possibility of alerting me. It is also possible he is wearing those clothes I had seen him in when I had met him.

He was a few steps behind me now, getting ready to pounce, I'm sure, when I turned around and stared him right in the eyes. He was, in fact, back in those black and red clothes I had seen him in at the Bee and Barb on the night I had been kidnapped and he had killed Grelod. He looked quite surprised and even flinched when I spun to look at him.

"You know, it isn't a good idea to sneak up on someone. Neither is it a good thing to do after someone had already known that you had those clothes and that someone is the person you snuck up on. By the way, where did you get them anyway? That assassin or whoever she was that kidnapped me had the same clothes on."

"I'm surprised you were able to tell that I was behind you. I have never met someone, until now, that could tell I was sneaking up on them. How could you tell that I was?"

"I essentially 'sensed' your presence. I could feel you in a way when you entered the room. It was the same way I located you when I met you. I could feel your presence in the Inn and it guided me to where you were."

"You're a boy full of wonders, aren't you? From your visions within that tree to being able to sense a presence without the need for a spell. The Grandmaster will definitely want to speak with you."

"You mean Paarthurnax?"

"How do you know about him?"

"I know how he felt pity for man and helped him with the Voice. It only would make sense if he continued doing that and leads me to the conclusion that he would do so in the presence of other voice users. Last I knew, only you and the Greybeards were users of the Voice."

"You have a good point. I'm surprised the Blades didn't think of that. They still are unaware of the existence of Paarthurnax. If they knew about him, they would want me to kill him or would take it upon themselves to do so."

"I'm sure the Greybeards wouldn't like that much. They would hate you for that as you are the only outsider aside from me to know about this, but they also don't know I know yet. They probably just see me as a boy who you decided to take up under your wing after taking care of something. They have no idea how much I know about anything and even you barely know."

"You have a point. As we traveled up here, I learned quite a bit from you. I feel the Greybeards could also learn from you if they were able to speak with you. Now then, shall we get on our way to meet with Paarthurnax then? I'm sure he will hear us coming as there are mists that cover the mountain that I need to clear with a shout."

"Clear skies, right? It is one of the few unknown shouts due to it never being carved into any of the many word walls around Skyrim. I can only assume the Greybeards taught it to you. The legend simply states that it is a 'shout of massive power that could clear the storms overhead with as little effort as raising a feather.' How true is that phrase?"

"It's pretty true. It doesn't take much to be able to use the shout but it is hidden due to its power as well. A dovah of old who discovered the shout taught it to another and the other dovah had found out that you could use it like Unrelenting Force but much much powerful. It could be used to clear away entire castles or even cities. After that, the original dovah hunted and killed his pupil before he could spread around knowledge of the shout and only taught it to one other dragon."

"Paarthurnax?"

"Precisely. He then taught the Greybeards the story of the shout and why it should only be given to those who have proved themselves worthy of such a power. Due to how the mists are on the mountain, it only seemed right for him to hide behind them to allow for only the worthy ones to see him. This weeds out the disciples who are only there to gain power from the shouts."

"Isn't that why you were here? To gain the power needed to defeat Alduin?"

"Yes, but they tested me rigorously before they allowed me to meet with Paarthurnax and learn Clear Skies from them. The testing took while but it proved my resolve plus they knew I would be on their side regardless as I had done many things to prove my righteousness before I was ever called upon by the Greybeards."

"Interesting. How many others know the shout?"

"Only as many as a couple dozen have been proven worthy to learn it. Including the Greybeards. Their tests were less rigorous than mine were, but they were not warriors as I am. They were just scholars in search of answers to what the voice was. They wanted to know the secrets behind what it was or where it really came from. Many did not love through the experience as they were not trained to withstand the voice or they were not ready to do so. Anyway, onward to Paarthurnax. He is expecting us by now, surely."

"Right, lead the way, Vyrick."


End file.
